Yeah, I skipped a day; I spent the evening at both a City Council meeting and an overlong school concert. (I feel sorry for the orchestra kids; by the time it's their turn, everybody's looking at their watches.)

kass asks: what fannish character is bringing you the most joy right now?

I'm ... not feeling the fannish joy right now.

Bits of it are there. There's a stage in every book I read, every movie I see, where I'm thinking, "Oh, hey, this person could be matched with that person ... this universe could cross over with that other universe." But somehow it doesn't catch.

I think there are two things going on:

1. The source media themselves are more fanfic-savvy now, and so nothing totally loses control of its subtext the way it used to in the old days.

I can't imagine anybody making entertainment in 2016 without being aware that viewers/readers will consider the possibility that characters are attracted to one another even if you didn't write them to be attracted to one another -- even if they are [gasp] the same gender. You'd have to be living under a rock on another planet to have missed that development.

And of course to the extent that this gets us actual non-heterosexual characters that's a great thing, though that part is not moving along quite as briskly as I would like.

But -- like, we're now getting classic Trek out of the library and watching it. And nothing equals the accidental subtext-fest that was classic Trek. I can see where the people who were slashing classic Trek could feel like they were totally stealing the archetypes and totally expressing the true nature of the show at the same time. There's nothing like that now.

2. I'm not interacting enough with fans (a situation that's unlikely to change until my nest goes empty next fall), and it's just no fun to be fannish alone.

1. 2. 3. mific: Do you enjoy Christmas more, or less, now the kidlet's older?4. armadillo1976: Dec 4. From the perspective of a parent of a big(ish) kid, what do you remember most/best from the time your kid was 1-2?(Asking as a mom of a 1.5 year old, terrified that she is going to forget all the love and beauty and mess of these times...)5. grammarwoman: what's a go-to comfort meal for you?6. cesperanza: What three things do you find unexpectedly sexy?7. jesse_the_k: What's a garment that's well-loved by fandom, to the point of fanonization, that you really don't care for. Examples might be Fraser's hat; Ronon's gun; Sherlock's coat... 8. monanotlisa: What's the hardest thing to write for you, and how do you get around it and yet write it?9. china_shop: Thoughts about writing original fic vs writing fanfic, whether it's different processes, different feelings (or the same process, and the same feelings), or whatever.10. julad: What was publishing Exog like for you? The good, the not so good, the unexpected.11. reginagiraffe: what was the best birthday present you ever got? (You can supply your own definition of "best".)12. james: Is there a tv show or movie that you would pay a billion dollars to get either a re-working of an episode or a sequel to? (It might not cost that much. Millions.) Because sometimes fanfic isn't enough, you just need to see it on-screen.13. mific: If you had to give up one of your 5 senses (you know, to save Atlantis or Benton Fraser's life, or suchlike), which would it be and why?14. james: Which (if any) Harry Potter book is the best totally on its own, with no meta or context or fanfic to bolster it up?15. james: Who is the most obscure composer, band, or individual musician that you adore?16. zulu: best vacation/break you ever had?17.18. kass: What do you enjoy most about parenting a kidlet of this age?19. kass: what fannish character is bringing you the most joy right now?20.21. 22.23.24.25.26.27. muccamukk: Moments in canon that still emotionally resonate with you, many years later.28.29.30.31.